Dark time for family and friends farewelling Matthew Ryan

MATTHEW RYAN, the son of the respected rugby league coach Warren
Ryan, loved life and thought he was indestructible, family and
friends said at his funeral service yesterday.

Matthew, who was 24, died from heart failure on April 16 after
attending a party where he is thought to have taken the drug gamma
hydroxybutyrate, also known as GHB.

About 200 people arrived yesterday to pay their respects to
Matthew and his parents, Warren and Pam Ryan, the crowd filling the
Eastern Suburbs Crematorium in Matraville and spilling into an
adjoining chapel, where the service was relayed on a video
screen.

Matthew's uncle, Chris Ryan, delivered one of four eulogies. He
described Matthew as "a bit of a party animal" who loved life and
was loved by a wide circle of friends.

"Like most young people, he lived his life like he was
indestructible," his uncle said.

A colleague at the Maroubra real estate agency where Matthew
worked said that his friend was a great communicator who was deeply
committed to his career.

"He knew how to communicate," the colleague said. "He was just
naturally good at the job. He could make the average home sound
like a palace.

"He wasn't the biggest - he didn't have the loudest mouth - but
everybody liked him."

Chris Ryan, speaking of Matthew's parents, said, "[Today is] a
very dark time in their lives. We can't imagine."

Mr and Mrs Ryan sat silently through the service, which included
renditions of Elton John's Candle in the Wind and Andrea
Bocelli's Time To Say Goodbye.

They did not speak to the media yesterday, but Mr Ryan had
earlier told the Herald: "I'm so sad, and my wife is so sad
about it. There's nothing else we can say. We're just so shattered
about it. It's a tragedy."

Matthew, a former Waverley College student, had reportedly been
at a party at an inner-city flat with friends when he took the
drug.

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